WASHINGTON — Sen. Daniel Akaka told the top U.S. commander in Iraq yesterday that the Army's 15-month troop deployments leave little time for soldiers to be at home before returning to Iraq.

The Hawai'i Democrat's comments came as Army Gen. David Petraeus called for halting U.S. troop withdrawals indefinitely this summer to assess security gains, and said future reductions should be based on conditions and not timetables.

Akaka said he was concerned that the Army has been ordering 15-month deployments followed by 12 months at the soldier's home station. But only six months of that time is "quality time with their families." The rest is training and other work that keeps them away from their families, Akaka said.

"In the near to medium term, especially if a decision is made to freeze further troop withdrawals, the strain on equipment, on our forces and on their families, as well, will continue," said Akaka, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. "The operations tempo in Iraq has had a dramatically negative impact on the readiness of both our active-duty military and our National Guard and Reserves."

Petraeus said he expected the time at home generally would be more.

"There is no question that certain individuals in certain units, if they have stayed in those units over time, have — may now be on their third tour," Petraeus told the committee. "There's no question, as well, that a 15-month tour is very, very difficult on a soldier and on a family."

Petraeus said he supported the Army's goal of getting back to 12-month deployments.

But Petraeus, flanked by the U.S. ambassador in Iraq, Ryan Crocker, said he took strain on the force into account when he made his recommendation for a 45-day "period of consolidation and evaluation" once the troop levels have been brought down to about 140,000 in July.

Akaka said he was disappointed but not surprised with Petraeus' request for an open-ended commitment in Iraq, even though the general admits there is no military solution.

"Keeping 142,000 troops there is not the answer," Akaka said. "Iraq needs a political solution, which only the Iraqis can provide, to bring real stability and security to their country."

Rep. Neil Abercrombie, a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee, said the surge is not working and the troops need to be brought home.

"It (the surge) will not and cannot determine whether Iraq is peaceful and democratic or continues to be torn by sectarian power struggles and violence," he said.

Abercrombie said the recent upswing of violence in Basra and Baghdad is a civil war among three rival Shiite organizations, and even with American and British support, the Iraqi government forces resolved nothing.

"There is no U.S. military solution to this situation," he said. "If we truly want to support our troops, we will end the surge and bring them home," Abercrombie said.

Rep. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawai'i, said Petraeus and Crocker "continue to tell the same story we've been hearing for years."

The government is spending $339 million a day on the war, Hirono said. That amount would cover Pell grants for 18,000 students to attend college for a year or help almost 1 million low-income families with their energy bills, she said.

"It is now harder than ever to justify our continued involvement in this war," Hirono said. "The American people are tired of the same rhetoric and want the troops to come home safely."

Contact John Yaukey at jyaukey@gns.gannett.com.